INDIAN DIASPORA AND PRAVASI SAMMAN.

 Indian diaspora has been broadly divided into two - Non Resident Indians ( NRIs ) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs).While NRIs are citizens of India currently not living in India the persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) refers to people of Indian birth or ancestory who are citizens of  countries other than India ( with minor exceptions).In addition there is a third category namely Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). OCI status is given to the people of Indian Origin and to persons who are not people of Indian origin but married to Indian Citizens  or people of Indian origin..OCI status enables such people a permanent Visa  to visit India with an Indian passport .Prakash C Jain estimated that  in 1982 there were 12.1 million Indians living abroad. As per the recent data supplied by External Affairs Ministry of India as on 26th November 2024 there were 35.4 million NRIs, PIOs inclusive of OCI living abroad. As the world's largest diaspora the ten most important destinations of  Indian diaspora  are  in United States of America 1280000 NRIs and 3180000 PIOs totalled  to 4460000..It may be noted here that recently US Ambassador to India had observed that there are 5 million Indians in United States. On the contrary in United Arab Emirates the share of NRIs are very high at 3419875 compared to only 5269 PIOs making a total of 3425144  diaspora. In Malaysia PIOs share is  more at  2760000 as against  227950 NRIs aggregating to 2987950 Indian diaspora. In Canada also PIOs share is very high  at 1510645 PIOs compared to 178410 NRIs out of 1689055 diaspora.Saudi Arabia had a negligible share of 2781 PIOs compared to 2592166 NRIs.Myanmar on the other hand have twenty lakh PIOs as against only 9207 NRIs.United Kingdom being traditional attraction for Indian emigration estimated to have 1413000 PIOs compared to 351000 NRIs out of 1764000 diaspora.In  South Africa out of 1560000 Indian diaspora except 60000 NRIs remaining 150000 are PIOs. In Srilanka also out of estimated 1614000 Indian diaspora 1600000 are PIOs and only 14000 NRIs.In Kuwait NRIs account for 1028274 and PIOs just 15487 totalling 1029861 Asper.the data shown above in countries of the Gulf region the magnitude of non residents Indians are very large in contrast to number of  persons of Indian Origin living in USA,Canada  South Africa and other Asian Countries like Malaysia, Myanmar and Srilanka. Both together give a picture of how Indian diaspora had spread  across the globe.As per the data supplied by the Government,Indians who have already accepted foreign citizenship live in atleast 135 countries of the world .

Since movement abroad was largely a private matter subject to existing laws of the country and abroad from time to time, people migrated  at their own risks except official or business assignments. According to the Emigration Act of 1952 Emigration of skilled workers were permitted only after clearance by the Protector of Emigrants,and the compliance  of the formalities prescribed in the Act. On the contrary emigration of unskilled workers were prohibited. It was only in Februry 1964 the airports of Bombay, Calcutta,Delhi and erstwhile Madras were declared airports from which Emigration for the skilled workers was made lawful. Employment status of Indians in 1980s showed that the percentage share of professionals  technicians and the like were much higher in the case of USA,Canada, UK and other European countries in sharp contrast to dominance of unskilled and semi skilled Indian emigrants flocking to West Asia. Financial Remittances  is the most significant aspect of  Pravasis contribution to family and country. 

Several labour exporting countries were devising  strategies to maximise development benefit from emigration.  Focus was largely on attracting remittances .Even though Reserve Bank of India introduced various schemes to attract non resident Indian Investments, quantum jump in inward remittance flows occurred only after 1991 economic reforms and consequent liberalised exchange rate regime.  .Gradually India emerged as the largest recipient of inward foreign remittances since 2008 culminating to $129 billion in 2024 accounting to 14.3% of total global remittances flowing mainly from UAE, USA,SaudiArabia, Oman and Kuwait . In order to maximise development benefits from Indians Abroad Government appointed a High level Committee. As per the recommendations of the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora (HLCID),Government of India decided to celebrate "Pravasi Bharatiya Divas " on January 9th every year  in honor Mahatma Gandhi the greatest pravasi of India who returned back to home country after nearly 2 decades of  living in South Africa on 9th January in 1915 and subsequently took part in freedom movement. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was first  Celebrated in 2003 from January 9th to 11th leading to developing productive interactions of the Indian diaspora with India,which always signify the underlying aim of Pravasi Divas. Pravasi Bharthiya Samman Award (PBSA) was also introduced in 2003 to recognize the achievements of Indian diaspora by conferring selected overseas Indians awards/Samman in their respective fields of specialization and excellence. "Invest ,invest, invest please" was the the underlying message of third Pravasi Divas conference held in Mumbai. The 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Odisha  in January 2025 described " Indian diaspora as "India's Ambassadors of the world".President Draupadi Murmu gave 27 Pravasi Samman Awards to distinguished members of Indian diaspora who proved their expertise in various disciplines of excellence. However Pravasi entrepreneurs and investors largely prefer capital  and technology intensive AI assisted projects, for investment.  .On the contrary labour intensive and export oriented projects alone can bring vitality to both employment generation and continued foreign exchange  flows to the country.